A bill of health: not necessarily clean, but not all that dirty, either
Sunday, Jul 24 2011

I should update readers on the results since the last post when my primary care physician referred me for more specialized testing and then sent me to a specialist. Good news: No blockage! The immediate “concern” is thereby allayed. In fact, the nuclear stress test result looked dazzling, “picture perfect,” according to the cardiac interventionist I saw in Lafayette Thursday.

But as I near the end of the fifth decade of life, other issues have evidently arisen that will require vigilance and treatment. The blood pressure is not exactly hypertensive, but it’s been creeping up the last few years, and the test Thursday revealed hardening of the arteries.

Gulp!

That was “hard” news to hear. Fortunately, the doctor wasn’t alarmed and ended our session with a determination to aggressively deal with that problem. He seemed optimistic that we can enact a strategy that will succeed in softening ’em up in the next year, at the end of which time I’ll go back to him for a check-up.

So we end with softening of the heart, hardening of the arteries? I suppose that’s better than hardening of the heart. Anyway, here’s to health, the marvels of modern medicine, and the wisdom of the annual wellness visit.